BREAKING NEWS

BREAKING NEWS

Reed failing in his job

PETE ANGIE

Editor, OBSERVER:

Last week, Tom Reed voted against a House Ways and Means amendment to make President Donald Trump turn over his tax returns. One of the duties of Congress is to provide a check and balance to the president, and that includes knowing if the president is acting on our behalf, or for his own gain.

Without Trump’s tax returns, Congress has no idea what conflicts of interest the president has. Reed and Congress cannot fulfill one of their primary responsibilities without this basic information — which all other recent presidents have provided voluntarily.

Given that Trump has refused to provide his returns, has refused to divest of his holdings at home and in multiple foreign countries, and given his associates’ suspicious dealings with Russia, the American people need to know this information more than ever. It should have been an easy vote for both parties to vote yes on, a no-brainer. Instead, Tom Reed and other Republicans voted to keep Americans and themselves in the dark about the president’s potential or real conflicts of interest.

Does Reed trust Donald Trump so much as to be derelict in his duties to protect the people of his district? Or is Reed afraid of Trump, or afraid of what truths his tax returns might reveal? Reed had a chance to make sure the president wasn’t selling out America. Instead, he voted no.

We need a representative who will stand up for us, who is not afraid of the president or of the truth. Tom Reed is not that person. He chose to look the other way, and leave us all in the dark.